It's not just orcs. Monolithic culture is boring, lazy world-building. Enforcing a quality such as evil on an entire species, even if supernaturally aligned, is boring. With beings who are people, it's just wrong. Culture doesn't work that way. People don't work that way. 1/
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 26, 2020
It only gets worse if the origins of the fantasy people are steeped in real-world culture, history, or appearances. In real-world othering. (Orcs are.) Worse still when we fail to educate ourselves about these problems and try to do better. We can, and we should. 2/ One way to do better is to make fantasy people complex. Another way to do better is to defy expectations. Still another is to leave no gaps in your world-building that people can fill in with their negative biases. 3/
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 26, 2020
Also, give heroes a reason to show their quality–mercy, honor, kindness–to “evil” people and monsters. Reward that behavior with chances to turn foes away from the wrong without simply killing them. Play monsters against type. Don’t let the assumption of evil take root. 4/ What I'm saying is discovering Asmodeus, the version who murdered his original deific patron, could be redeemed is more interesting than simply fighting and defeating him in Nessus. This story allows for meaningful choices. Go for meaningful and complex. 5/
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 26, 2020
That’s not to say some monsters aren’t to be simply faced and destroyed. But people (such as D&D orcs) and thinking beings (including supernatural ones, such as devils) are elements players can and should treat with more nuance. Our designs should do so, too. 6/6 PS-I like D&D, and LotR, and lots of other things that are flawed in these ways. Pretending such things, although foundational, lack their flaws is intellectual dishonesty at best and fetishism at worst. The idea we shouldn't try to or can't do better is similar.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
This thread is about encouraging awareness and change. I want creators, including me, to use our awareness to make better game elements, and for all of us to be more aware of the elements we're playing with. Doing these things makes games better, right?
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 28, 2020
Free the Gnolls! Free the Gnolls! Gnolls are a weird case, because the 4e and 5e versions are wholly demonic in origin. But they're people, too. Would freeing them make them incapable of reproducing, or could a kinder deity facilitate this rescue from demonic forces? What would happen then? Interesting premise.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
Agree! It’s a weird balance to hit in worldbuilding.
The issue I see coming thanks to more modern games is that people actively don’t want “gray area” enemies to fight. Some people want the ‘swarm’-like aliens that they 100% know it’s OK to punch in the face. I think most people agree it's okay to defend yourself from attackers. And that it's okay to push back against relentless, remorseless foes to try to head off future attacks. That's usually a play issue in games. The design issue is different.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
It can be put in another way. The empire in Star Wars or Starfinder could be called evil. That doesn’t mean every Stormtrooper or Aeon Guard is evil. They’re people serving a wicked regime. And the Rebellion isn't all "Good" since they murdered all those poor non-evil folks onboard the Death Star.
Have I mentioned that I really dislike the alignment system? 😉
— Thurston Hillman (@OnCallGm) April 27, 2020
Right. Ambiguity among imaginary people is a feature, not a bug. It allows for complex storytelling if you want it.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
So your saying Tolkien was a boring, lazy world builder
Do even a 1/4 of what he achieved and you’ll have a point Yep, a lot of his world building is not only shallow but also based on prejudice. That I’d need to accomplish as much as he did to have a point is the only nonpoint in this exchange. If you have an actual point, go ahead and make it.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
The fantasy trope of orcs is derived from the works of Tolkien. Complete magical despicable evil creations. The opposite of elves, who are considered noble and good.
That’s fairy tales vs realism. It all depends on the game you want to play at your table. I know where orcs come from. And I’m talking about a deeper issue than play. How you play is none of my business. The tools designers give us for play and the cultural impact of those tools is. I get that some players want no moral ambiguities. There are better ways to give that.— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
I feel like part of the underlying problem is a system that makes a moral judgement into a fact of the world. Alignment is a very blunt tool that makes the world less interesting and doesn’t give you much to work with as a player. yes, and since alignment is nonessential to at least the current version of 5e, jettisoning it except, perhaps, as a guide for roleplaying some monsters doesn’t do any harm.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 27, 2020
My knee jerk reaction concerning devils in particular was “evil incarnate”… but if angels can fall, couldn’t devils also rise? I also support species as a descriptor in place of “race” which implies same species. Yeah, that point is one I'm trying to make. I can sympathize, because some D&D lore, in particular, has said that beings such as devils are incarnations of their home plane. But I'd ignore that lore, as I'd ignore other problem (or boring) lore, in favor of complexity and nuance.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 26, 2020
Where is all this leading? If the creatures you meet are simply misunderstood, then violence becomes reprehensible. If you want to take combat out of D&D, you could try playing a different game instead. I didn't say all creatures are misunderstood or that I wanted to take combat out of D&D. Villainy can be situational, in the same way we have evil humans. Objectifying a whole people, such as orcs, to make them killable without remorse is the problem. A design problem.
— Chris S. Sims (@ChrisSSims) April 28, 2020